


I won't lose you again

by Keefa



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: 13x15 spoilers, Fluff, Gen, Headcanon, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Shippy, Season 13 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 10:49:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4432703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keefa/pseuds/Keefa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wash sacrifices himself at the nuclear reactor so that the others make it out of Armonia alive, but Tucker won't let that happen</p><p>________</p><p>Just a little something that came to mind when I cried to a friend about what could happen in the next few eps, and I decided to run with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I won't lose you again

**Author's Note:**

> Still getting used to this writing thing so apologies if this is super rough.
> 
> After the newest episode I just started wondering what if the plan went wrong and Wash had to stay behind? Would Tucker insist he didn't, run back to save him because he wouldn't lose Wash again? I think he would so here's that fic. 
> 
> I really don't know anything about nuclear reactors or how they explode, or much about vehicles in Halo, so just give me the benefit of the doubt on this one.
> 
> Criticism, constructive and otherwise, are always appreciated. Enjoy!

“Wash, please tell me you guys are done at the reactor” Tucker’s voice came in over the comms.  
“We need backup!” Doyle panicked voice quickly followed.

Wash replied, as calm as he could while running down a cramped tunnel, “haven’t made it yet, we ran into Sharkface!”

“What?” Doyle yelped. Doyle couldn’t handle the slightest change in plan without panicking.  
“Carolina’s handling it, what’s wrong?” Wash tried not to let annoyance colour his voice, but he failed. He was rushing to try cover for lost time. He knew they needed to be at the reactor but there was only so much he could do himself.

“Forget it,” Tucker growled. “We’ll figure something out,” before Wash was left in the silence. Washington felt worry gnaw at him from inside. He hoped they’d be able to make it in time. They needed this plan to work.

“I’m sure they’ll be okay,” Kimball said from beside him. “Tucker’s gotten pretty good at handling tough situations.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Wash replied tersely. “I’m worried that he won’t anticipate everything the space pirates are capable of. The things he’s dealt with aren’t the same as what the pirates are capable of. We need to hurry and get started on our part of the plan.”

“He’s more capable than you give him credit for…” Kimball said softly.

Wash didn’t know what to say in response so he continued to hurry down the tunnel to the reactor. 

The plan depended on Wash and Kimball. Carolina was supposed to be with them but, of course, she could never turn down a fight and was instead duking it out with Sharkface. Now it was up to Wash and Kimball to get to the reactor and reset the manual overload so it would be possible for them to blow the city up from a safe distance. Using Epsilon for calculations about how far they needed to be to still be able to control the reactor but be far enough away as not to be affected, and do it quickly enough that those Charon jerks didn’t figure it out and leave. It would be useless the blow the city with no one in it! Wash just hoped it was enough. 

He and Kimball raced quietly down the underground tunnels, never stopping, never catching their breath, just trying to get there and get out as quick as possible. The others needed them. He prayed that they’d deal with whatever was going on on their side and be able to meet them at the rendez-vous with the pelican so they could all get out of here. Somehow, he doubted everything would go to plan. He hoped that once, just this once, things would work out as expected for him and his friends. Just once. 

Finally, they reached the reactor room. Wash rushed ahead to the computer screen.  
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Kimball asked.

“Kind of,” Wash replied. “Church and Carolina were supposed to do this part, considering Church is a computer and all, but I gathered enough to know what we should do… vaguely.”

“Reassuring as ever, Agent Washington,” came Kimball’s dry response.

Wash ignored her and continued to click and type his way into the computer system. 

“Keep lookout,” he said to her. “Or make sure or evac route is clear. Once I’ve got the manual overload down we need to move.”

“Got it,” she said, and was already moving to a far hallway. Wash continued to search for the system settings. He stood there, hands moving, eyes locked to the screen, sweating from the pressure and the run here. Finally, he found the settings he was looking for. Just a few short clicks and they’d be on their way. But… 

“No…” he said without meaning to. “No! No no no!”

“What is it?” Kimball said, rushing back into the reactor room. “Wash, what’s wrong?”

“Whoever was in charge of this nuclear plant was a dick!” Wash spat, slapping his armoured hand against the desk.

“Why?” Kimball demanded, her voice tense. “What’s the matter?”

“The manual overload it… it…” Wash couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

“What about it?!” Kimball said, losing any semblance of patience she had.

Wash turned to face her. “It only last for a few minutes. It resets again after three minutes. Meaning, we won’t be able to blow this place from the sky.”

Kimball said nothing. Wash couldn’t read the silence, her helmet hiding any emotion on her face.

“They built in a failsafe or something, meaning if we want to stop Charon, someone will have to stay behind.”

“I.. “ Kimball was shocked. “What can we do? You can’t extend it by a few minutes more?”

“I tried.” Wash replied. “There’s nothing. It’s a three minute maximum. There’s no way around it. At least, not from here. If Church were here he might be able to do something from inside the computer but he’s not, so...”  
“Well… what do we do now?” 

“We radio the others and tell them to meet you at the rendez-vous. I’m staying behind.”

“You can’t expect me to leave you here!” Kimball shouted. “We need you!”

“Not if I stay behind you don’t,” Wash said, fighting to keep his voice calm. “If I stay, we beat Charon and there’s no more way. You won’t need me to survive, but you need me to win. The people of Chorus will need a leader after this. They’ll need someone to tell them what to do before they get back to living their lives. They’ll need you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Kimball said. “Of course we need yo-”

“Tucker,” Wash said, turning on his comms unit. “Tucker there’s a problem. Are you guys on at the rendez-vous yet?”

“Nearly,” came Tucker’s reply. “On our way. Space pirates are right on our heels though. I hope you guys are finished in there.”

“We’re almost ready,” Wash said. “Kimball will be waiting for you at the rendezvous point. Radio me when you guys are in the air.”

“Just Kimball?” Tucker asked. “Why? Wash what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it, Tucker. Hurry up and get there, okay?” Wash turned off his comm unit then and said to Kimball. “Swear to me that you’ll radio when you’re in the air. Then I’ll switch the manual overload and you can guys will get out of here. Okay?”

“Wash..”

“Do you understand me, Kimball?!” Wash tried to use his most authoritative voice, praying it would work and that she’d listen. They needed this war to end.  
“Okay, Wash.”

“Thank you. Now don’t keep the reds and blues waiting. Get out of here.” Wash hoped his tone was lighter now, he didn’t want their last interaction to be harsh. Kimball stood awkwardly for a second, seeming unsure, before reaching to give Wash a brief hug.

“Thank you for everything, Agent Washington,” she said.

Wash patted her on the shoulder. “It was a pleasure, Vanessa.”

Kimball nodded one last time before turning to leave and racing down the hallway. 

All that was left for Wash to do, was wait. 

And wait he did, for what felt like forever, in agony. His heart was still racing, his breathing was erratic, his hands shook and each second ticked by. This was going to be the end for him.  
He would wait here and when he got the call on the radio he’s lift the manual override, and the others would blow the place up, with all the Charon goons, and Wash, with it.  
No more war on Chorus, and no more Agent Washington. Seemed like a fair trade, for all the other lives lost because of him.

Wash sighed. He couldn’t believe it came down to this. 

Not that he’d have it any other way though. If he had to die for anyone, he was glad it was for the Reds and Blues, and for the people of Chorus. They deserved to live on a planet that wasn’t at war. And the Reds and Blues finally deserved the peace they were promised, and their quiet lives, away from any battlefield.

So, he waited for the call. He waited to hear Kimball or Tucker’s voice on his comm, telling him they were in the air and needed him. He waited and waited and waited. It felt like he was waiting too long. He hoped the pirates hadn’t caught up with them and caused any trouble. Wash itched to call them but he was scared to find out, and afraid they’d try to convince him out of his self sacrifice, so he continued to wait. The silence of the tunnels was really starting to get to him. So, Wash began to whistle. He whistles both to pass the time and to stop the silence from smothering him. 

When he reached the end of his second song, anxiety began to take hold. He should have heard from them by now. What was taking so long? Right as he reached for the comm unit to radio the others, he heard a loud humming noise coming from the tunnel Kimball disappeared into. 

Wash turned and squinted down the tunnel. Were those… lights? And boy, were they moving fast.

Oh no.

Wash leaped out of the way as a mongoose hurtled down the tunnel at a speed faster than should be possible.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Wash yelled from the floor, panicked. He looked up to see a soldier in aqua armor sitting on the mongoose.

“You didn’t think we’d leave you behind, now did you?” Tucker said smugly, the smarmy bastard.

“Lavernius, what are you doing here? I have to stay to reset the manual overload!” Wash snapped, panicked. “You should be with the others, get out of here!”  
“Jensen modified the vehicles,” Tucker said. “We’re able to go faster now. This tunnel should only take us a minute and we’ll on the pelican and in the air in two.”

“Wha-how?” Wash was stumped. “But that’s still not enough time! We won’t be far enough away! Tucker, you need to leave me here!”

“No way, Wash. We’re not leaving without you. That’s the end of it.” Tucker was stern and serious. It was a nice change. “Now hurry up, melt the reactor or whatever and ride my bike, bow chicka wow wow.”

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

“I don’t understand how this is going to work, Tucker! It - it can’t!”

“Can’t you just trust me? We got this covered. Now get moving Wash! We’re still on the clock.”

“Tucker, I - ”

“Wash, I am not leaving you here, at that’s the end of it!”

Washington was shocked by how commanding but desperate Tucker’s voice was. Wash stared at the aqua helmet, wishing he could see the soldiers face underneath, see what he was feeling, what that outburst had meant. 

Wash nodded and spurred back into movement, rushing towards the computer to set the reactor off.  
Wash was secretly glad Tucker came to save him. He wasn’t ready to die yet. Wash quickly keyed in the code for the overload, hands shaking as he did so. He really hoped they’d be able to make it.

“We’re ready to go,” Wash said. “Just need to hit enter and we can be on our way.”

Tucker quickly moved the vehicle closer to the computer. Wash hopped on and leaned over to the computer.

“We ready?” Wash asked Tucker.

“Let’s roll,” Tucker responded. Wash hit the button and quickly wrapped his arms around Tucker as Tucker revved the engine and they were on their way, speeding down the tunnels to the rendez-vous and the meet the others. Wash checked the time on his HUD, 2:35. They were already nearly halfway to the rendez-vous. Wash was surprised. Jensen’s modified engines actually worked! Wash kept his eyes on both the timer and the map on his HUD. They needed to make it. They had to make it. 2:01

Tucker’s voice broke through Wash’s concentration. “Is there any particular reason your hands are around my waist?”

Wash huffed. “I’m not exactly keen on falling off this high speed death trap, thank you very much.”

He felt Tucker laugh through his armour. “Sure, Wash. If you say so.”

They were coming to the mouth of the tunnel now, the open air on the edge of a cliff where the pelican should be waiting. Instead there was nothing.

1:55

“What’s going on, where are the others?” Wash asked, fear twisting his gut and making his words spill into one another.

“You’d want to get a tighter grip there Wash,” Tucker said.

“What’s going on??” Wash demanded. Then he saw it.

The pelican, floating stationary in the air. The makeshift ramp on the side of the cliff.

1:40

“Oh dear god.”

“Hold on tight,” Tucker said, as he sped the vehicle and threw them off the ground and into the air.

“Son of a bitch!” Wash yelled as they soared through the air, towards the open carrier door of the pelican. 

Their stint in the air didn’t last long, and as soon as their wheels touched the metal floor of the planes cargo hold Wash heard Carolina yell. “They’re in, get us out of here GO GO GO!”

“Rodger that,” Wash heard Grifs voice from the comms. The pelican began to speed away into the sky. 

1:35

“Epsilon,” Carolina continued, as she ran out of the cargo hold “blow the reactor!” 

1:30

Everyone on the ship around them ran around, getting them further away, keeping them in the air, doing whatever else needed doing but Wash just sat there on the mongoose, arms around Tucker, heart racing. 

“You fucker,” he said. “You almost killed me.”

Tucker laughed. “You going to let go of me now, Wash?

“You almost killed me.” Wash said.

“I sure as shit wasn’t going to leave you there,” Tucker said, turning his head to look at Wash. “Not there when there was a possibility that we could save you.”

“But why,” Washington asked. “Why fight so hard to save me? Why not leave me there and be long gone and safe by now?”

Tucker looked away from Wash again. He sighed before saying “I couldn’t lose you… not again. I just.. I couldn’t lose you Wash! I had to try.”

Wash fell silent, dumbfounded.

1 minute.

Tucker cleared his throat. “Seriously though, are you going to let go? We need to brief with the others.”

“I… I don’t think I can right now.” Wash replied dumbly. “I’m still a bit shaken.”

Tucker nodded. They stayed like that for a few more minutes, sat on the vehicle, Wash’s around tight around Tucker’s waist, the sound of the ship and the crew rushing around above. Distantly, Wash heard the boom of the nuclear reactor blowing just as the counter had reached 0 seconds. He felt the ship rattle with the force of it but all Wash could hear was Tucker’s words, echoing in his head.

_I couldn’t lose you. Not again._

He wrapped his arms tighter around Tucker.

“I promise you won’t lose me.”


End file.
